Hamper



Dec. 15, 1925- 1,565,262

F. D. LANDER, JR

v HAMPER Filed Sept. 28. 1922 I ii Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES FRANK D. 'LANDER, JR., OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

' HAMPER.

Application filed September 28, 1922. Serial No. 591,086.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK D. LANDER,

Jr., citizen of the United States, residingat Highland Park, in thecounty of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in a Hamper; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to hampers as used for shipping and storing goods,and in its general objects aims to provide a hamper which will besuperior to those in common use, both as to strength and durability, asto an advantageous displaying and advertising of the contents, and as tothe store space required both for empty and for filled hampers.

In shippingvarious kinds of vegetablesv it has been customary heretoforeto employ hampers having round bottoms and round tops in preference tocrates, for the reason that the relatively greater height of a I hamperwhen opened displays the contents more efiectively to the intendedpurchaser. However, such hampers have declded disadvantages in that theywaste a large amount of space in the cars and storage houses and thatthey do not offer an adequate resistance to the severe shocks to whichthey may be subjected while they are being shipped in railway cars orotherwise transported. Furthermore, the usual round hamperconstructionafi'ords an undue number of gaps between the panels or riser portions,and if the hampers are used for shipping such. articles as cured sweetpotatoes, some of the contents are apt to be damaged by being forcedagainst. the sharp corners of the spaces between the panels.Consequently, when ordinary hampers are used for shipping sweetpotatoes, the distributing jobber has to repack many of the hampers toeliminate the damaged potatoes.

My invention aims to reduce such damagin (which also commonly occurswhen crates are employed for the same purpose) by reducing the numberof'gaps between the' panels and by generally strengthening the hamper.Furthermore, my inventlon aims to provide an inexpensive constructionwhich will make the hamper particularly strong for resisting shocks orother strains in one direction, thus enabling the user to guard a 'ainsta damaging of the hampers by so disposing them in the railway cars thatthe bumping of the cars will effectively be resisted. Still further andmore detailed objects will appear from the following specification andfrom the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1, is a perspectiveview ofa duly labeled hamper embodying my invention.

Fig. 2, is an enlarged bottom view of the hampers of my invention asloaded in the same for effectively resisting the arrmg of cars intransit.

Fig. 6, 1s a perspective view of one of the Wide side panels of thehamper.

In accomplishing the purposes of my invention after the manner of theaccompanying drawings, I construct the hamper primarily of veneer orthin wooden panels or riser portions connecting a substantiallyelliptical upper hoop with the edges of a bottom board. This bottomboard is symmetrical with respect to the central vertical plane B of thehoop, but is not elliptical in shape. Instead, it has two straight anddesirably vertical side edges extending parallel to the said plane, andhas each of its ends rounded on a radius relatively greater than that ofthe ellipse of a length cor responding in shape'to the hoop and inlength the bottom board. Thus in Fig. 2,

the dotted line A shows the elliptical contour which the bottom boardwould have if shaped to correspond to the upper hoop 1 of the hamper,while the actual ends of thebottom board 2 are curved at a much smallerconvexity than the ends of the imaginary ellipse A.

Connecting the bottom board 2 with the upper hoop 1 are a series of thinwooden or veneer panels which desirably extend close to each other atthe bottom board 2, while gapping away from each other at the hoop so asto allow the required circulation of air through the hamper. Thesepanels desirably include two side panels 3, each of which correspondsinlength to one of the straight sides 4 of the bottom and is securedthereto.

They also desirably include a series of end panels 5 secured at theirlower endsto the rounded ends of the bottom. All of these panels arefirmly secured to the hoop 1, desirably by means of a correspondinglyshaped inner hoop 6, and in doing so are made to conform in their upperportions to the adjacent parts of the hoop. In the case of the widepanels 3, this means that their lower ends 16 are straight, while theirupa hampers longitudinally in a railway car,

such as the car having the end walls 7 of Fig. 5, I enable the hampersto resist the bumping and slamming which occurs in the starting andswitching of railway cars. When thus loaded after the manner of loadingegg cases, it will also be evident from Fig. 5 that while the wastespace is much less than with hampers of circular cross-section, thisspace is adjacent to the gaps in the hamper walls so that the partialflattening of the sides does not materially interfere with thecirculation of air between and through .the hampers.

Moreover, by employing wide side panels, I not only increase thelongitudinal rigidity of the hampers and decrease the gaps in the same,but also provide large and uninterrupted surfaces for displaying labelsor advertising matter relating to the contents of the hampers. Suchmatter can either be imprinted directly on the side panels or it can bedesirably pasted on such a side panel in the form of a label 14 afterthe manner shown in Fig. 1, in which case the label is guarded againstinjury by the uninterrupted wide backing which the side panel affords.It will thus be seen that the major axes of the bottom and the hoop arein the same vertical plane and that by reason of the ends of the bottombeing of less convexity than the ends of the hoop there is provided anincreased area adjacent the bottom or lower end of the hamper.Furthermore, these curved ends of the bottom position the connecting endpanels in an are having .an increased radius over the are prescribed bythe ends of the hoop and consequently these panels are better positionedto resist lateral com.-

pression.

To close the top of the hamper, I desirably provide a wooden cover 8shaped substantially to correspond to the hoop 1, and having a pair ofstiffening cleats 9 secured to it. i then fasten the cover in positionby means of straps 1O fastened between the hoop and the side panels,these being aliixed in the usual manner. I also desirably reinforce thehamper by a wire banding 11 extending around the panels intermediate oftheir height and by banding 12 of flat wire ex- M tending around thebottom of the panels, and desirably increase the circulation of airthrough the hamper by providing the bot-- tom board with perforations13. However, I do not wish to be limited to these or other details ofthe construction and arrangement thus disclosed, nor to the use of myhamper for the particular purposes mentioned. Obviously many changesmight be made in con struction without departing from the spirit of myinvention or from the appended claims, and likewise other uses than thatof shipping vegetables like sweet potatoes will readily suggestthemselves.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hamper comprising a bottom having straight sides and curved ends,an elliptical hoop, and veneer panels connecting the sides and ends ofthe bottom with the hoop, the major axes of the bottom and the hoopbeing in the same vertical plane, the ends of the bottom being of lessconvexity than the ends of the hoop to provide an increased bottom areaand to position the connecting end panels to better resist lateralcompression.

2. A hamper comprising a bottom having straight sides and curved ends,an elliptical hoop, and veneer panels connecting the sides and ends ofthe bottom with the hoop, said panels including single-piece side panelseach corresponding in width to the longitudinal side of the bottom, andend panels having their adjacent side Walls disposed close together atthe bottom and diverging upwardly to the hoop to form air gaps, themajor axes of the bottom and the hoop being in the same vertical plane,the ends of the bottom being of less convexity than the ends of the hoopto provide an increased bottom area and to position the connecting endpanels to better resist lateral compression.

A hamper, comprising a rigid bottom having straight side edges andcurved ends, an upper substantially elliptical hoop, and panellingextending between and connecting the bottom and hoop together, said hoopbeing longer and wider than the bottom to make flared the upper portionof the hamper, said panelling including side and end panels secured tothe corresponding portions of the bottom and hoop with the side edges ofthe panels diverging upward to provide ventilatinggaps therebetween,there being two side panels, one on each side .of the hamper and eachside panel having its lower end straight and of a width corresponding tothe length of the straight side edge of the bottom to which the sidepanel is secured.

ill)

4. A hamper, comprising a rigid bottom having straight side edges andcurved ends, an upper substantially elliptical hoop, and panellingextending between and connecting the bottom and hoop together, said hoopbeing longer and Wider than the bottom to make flared the upper portionof the hamper, said panelling including side panelling secured to thecorresponding ortions of the bottom and hoop with the si e edges of thepanels diverging upward to provide ventilating gaps between them, thelower ends of the side panels being straight to conform to the straightside edges of the bottom to resist end strains on the hamper, said hoophaving inner and outer sections be tween which the upper portions of theside and end panels are secured, and banding around the hamper on theoutside of the panels between their upper and lower ends.

5. A hamper comprising a rigid bottom having straight sides and curvedends, an upper substantially elliptical hoop, paneling extending betweenand connecting the bottom and the hoop together, said hoop being longerand wider than the bottom to make flared the upper portion of thehamper,

said paneling including side panels secured to the correspondingportions of the bottom and hoop wlth the lower ends of the side panelssubstantially straight to conform to the straight side edges of thebottom, and two bands surrounding the hamper about the paneling with oneband adjacent the bottom of the hamper and the other between the bottomand top of the ame.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, Sept. 26th, 1922.

FRANK D. LANDER, JR.

